date:May 12, 2012
Petras overall sales in Q1 were down 7% compared to the same quarter last year to US $402m, but profit climbed 13.5% to $34.5m driven by branded consumer sales.
The companys branded consumer division upped sales 9.5% to US $120.4m. However, sales in its cocoa ingredients arm dropped 12.7% to $282.2m.
Petra attributed the decline to falling cocoa bean prices.
Excess supply
Petra CEO John Chuang said: Although the Cocoa Ingredients started the year on a positive note, the industry and market